The Colorado men’s basketball team is bringing its new-look roster to Denver.
On Tuesday, CU announced coach Tad Boyle’s club will face North Texas in an exhibition match hosted by Metro State on Oct. 18 at the Auraria Event Center.
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It is the second basketball-centric community event announced by CU in as many days. On Friday, Oct. 16 — two days before the North Texas exhibition on Family Weekend at CU — the usual Pearl Street Stampede will be rebranded as the SLAMpede, an event focused on introducing the 2026-27 CU basketball teams to a wider audience.
Both ventures were initialized by first-year athletic director Fernando Lovo, who has promised to expand community engagement with the men’s and women’s basketball programs. That includes trying to attract a greater share of attention out of the Denver market.
“We always expect people from Denver to come to Boulder to support us, and this is really a step in the right direction of taking our program to Denver,” Boyle said in a news release. “I want the Denver community to get to know our team, to get kids from Denver that don’t have the chance to come to Boulder for a basketball game. They have a chance to go to Metro State and see our team.
“I hope the Denver community comes out to see us and support us. And hopefully sees enough to want to go to Boulder for a game or two or to buy season tickets.”
Billed as the Mile High Hoops Classic, admission will be free, with CU partnering with Denver-based youth sports programs to bring 300 kids to the game. Another 300 tickets will be split between students at CU Denver and CU Boulder, and a limited number of tickets will be available to the general public at 10 a.m. on Oct. 12 at cubuffs.com/tickets.
North Texas went 19-14 last season, the program’s first under head coach Daniyal Robinson.
Answering questions
Boyle admitted the new-look frontcourt is probably the biggest preseason question mark surrounding his team.
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The Buffs’ four scholarship returnees all are perimeter players — Barrington Hargress, Jalin Holland, Ian Inman and Josiah Sanders. After losing the entire frontcourt, CU will lean on a cast of newcomers that includes transfers Noah Feddersen (North Dakota State) and Justin Neely (UNC Greensboro), in addition to freshman Goc Malual.
The Buffs hope Charlotte transfer David Gomez eventually plays his way into that mix, but the start of his CU career has been slowed by his ongoing recovery from foot surgery.
“When I look at this team, I look at the frontcourt as kind of the question mark, if you will,” Boyle said. “Obviously Barrington has proven himself at the Big 12 level. I think Jalin and Josiah and Ian certainly had good freshman years, and they had great offseasons and they’re ready to make their jump to becoming dependable, every day guys at the Big 12 level.
“All four of those guys are perimeter players. The guys that haven’t been there are the frontcourt guys. Justin Neely is very capable. Noah Feddersen is capable. Goc Malual is capable. We’re going to need some of those guys to step up and be everyday guys. And if they do, we’ll be in good shape. If not, we’ll have to play a lot of small ball and figure some things out. ”
Early returns
As the Buffs embark on the second week of preseason practice, Boyle said one early pleasant surprise has been the play of freshman guard Alex Dickeson. Dickeson and Malual, both Australian, committed to the Buffs in the spring.
“Alex Dickeson has really had a great, great impact on our program since he’s been here,” Boyle said. “In a pretty short period of time, because he didn’t get here until later.”
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